National
Sanctity of Human Life Day
By President George W. Bush
National
Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2005
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that all Americans are endowed by
the Creator with the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, we celebrate the sacred
gift of life.
We have a responsibility in America to defend the life of the innocent and the
powerless. Our Nation has made significant progress in recent years toward
building a culture of life. Last year, I signed into law the Unborn
Victims of Violence Act of 2004, which provides that any person who causes
death or injury to a pregnant woman commits two separate offenses. I worked
with members of both parties to ban the brutal practice of partial-birth
abortion, and I signed the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act. Working with the
Congress, my Administration has halted spending of taxpayers' money on
international programs that promote abortions overseas. We continue to
promote abstinence education, adoption programs, crisis pregnancy programs, and
other efforts to help protect life.
My Administration remains committed to the steadfast belief in the dignity of
every human being and the promise of every life. Across our country, we must
continue to encourage our citizens to make ours a more just and
welcoming society in which every child is born into a loving family and
protected by law. We will work with decency and respect to change hearts and
minds, one person at a time. In doing so, we will build a lasting culture of
life and a more compassionate society.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America,
by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim Sunday, January 16, 2005, as National
Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize this day
with appropriate ceremonies in our homes and places of worship and to reaffirm
our commitment to respecting the life and dignity of every human being.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of January,
in the year of our Lord two thousand five, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and twenty-ninth.
GEORGE W. BUSH